Thermal and electrical behavior of built-middle photovoltaic integrated Trombe wall: Experimental and numerical study

Abstract

This study proposed a new system with the photovoltaic (PV) panel installed in the middle of channel of the Trombe wall (TW) system, called as built-middle photovoltaic integrated Trombe wall (PVMTW), which can realize multiple functions of electricity generation, space heating and heat preservation. The experiment rig was built to study the temperature field of the PVMTW system in heating seasons, in Hefei. A mathematical model of the PVMTW system was developed and validated against experimental data. Using the validated model, the thermal performance of the PVMTW system was investigated by comparison with that of the classic Trombe wall. The results showed that in the daytime, the average thermal efficiency of the PVMTW system was 65.2% higher than that of the classic TW system. In terms of room air temperature and interior surface temperatures on the walls, the indoor thermal comfortable of the PVMTW system was almost the same as that of the classic TW system. The average predicted mean vote (PMV) for two rooms (room with the PVMTW system and room with the classic TW system) were 0.05 and −0.36, respectively. Additionally, the average electrical efficiency and average total efficiency achieved 0.120 and 0.585, respectively.